Magic Jewball

It’s hard to believe it’s been a year… no, I take that back, it’s easy. It’s been a long strange year and really, I feel like I’ve had this blog for the last five years at the very least. But one year ago today, I went to blogger.com and found it took less than a minute to set up a blog leaving me way too much time and forcing me to actually write something. I had been threatening to start a blog for a long time and pretty much everyone told me not to. I knew why; they felt like they’d then have to be polite and read it. After assuring everyone in my life that I would not be one of those “I see you haven’t read my blog lately” types and assuring them that they’d now receive fewer of my long-winded stories in real life, my friends were a lot more encouraging.

Here are a few stats from the last year:

Posts: 153
Comments: 2,101
Day with the most visitors: move to my own domain/redesign, July 3, 2006
Post with the most comments: Reader of the Month – October! (although to be fair, she commented a lot herself)
First post with photos: Drew and Hugh and You, April 20, 2006
First post with Napster Link: And while we’re talking about subways, May 1, 2006
Top 5 Countries: US, Canada, Australia, Netherlands, France
Top 5 US States: New York, Connecticut, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Florida
Most popular search terms: tennis players + Jewish (but if you’ve been reading a while you knew that)
Most popular picture search: Paul Banks
Current commenter with the longest commenting history: KP
Lurker with the most visits: Algonac, Michigan – I’d love to know who you are!

I’ve only had to delete about 10 comments, mostly because people I know inadvertently revealed personal information I didn’t want on the Internets and only twice because the comments were offensive. I got my first hate letter yesterday, just making it in under the deadline! I’ve had to block two people, one for a personal situation and one was yesterday’s letter-writer. In related news, I also got my first Digg this weekend, thanks, JF!

So back to my first post. It’s kind of funny to me now, but it was called I don’t read your blog; will you read mine?. I mean, at the time, I didn’t. I didn’t know what an RSS reader was and I wouldn’t have cared because I just didn’t read anyone’s blog. But now I do! I have like 30 blogs on my Google Reader and I read them all faithfully (if you haven’t seen me on your blog lately, I’m still reading, don’t worry). This has probably been the biggest change since then with regards to blogging; I’m a blog-reader as well as a writer.

So why did I start this blog? One day, long ago (that is, I can’t remember exactly when), I went to see two shows two days in a row. The first was Interpol at Radio City, a big, boring, soulless concert and the second was the Finn Brothers which was in a tiny venue, with lots of laughter, intimacy, and connection between the band and the audience. It was kind of like seeing a show by your old friends in your living room. I wrote a long e-mail to my friend who had gotten me the Finn Brothers tickets and his entire response was, “Glad you had a good time.” I knew someone out there would have enjoyed the story more.

Then, later, came the transit strike (that one I remember, December 2005). Each morning I would walk over to West 96th to where cars had to have at least four passengers to go further south and I’d get into some stranger’s car and get a ride as close as possible to work. On each corner there were swarms of cops and TV satellite trucks. It just felt surreal and each day I’d have a new story (the car I rode in with the burly construction guys who didn’t speak English, the one with the Riverdale Mom driving her kids to school who turned out to have had my cousin as their teacher). That was when I really knew I wanted a blog. But somehow it still took me three more months.

After re-reading that first post I think I finally started one late that night because I discovered that the guy I had dated in college, whom I thought I would marry and live happily ever after with, had a blog and I really hated it. It was really political and dogmatic and right-wing. It made me feel both happy that I hadn’t spent my life with him and determined to do a fun blog that would take people’s minds off of politics for a few minutes.

The blog has changed in some ways as I strive not to repeat myself and in other ways is pretty much the same. Many people change their blog theme (that’s the design, for you non-bloggers) a lot but once I got this one, I pretty much stopped. Some of my friends thought I should after some personal things happened surrounding it and they were probably right, but to me, it’s the most beautiful thing on the Internet. Every time I open my browser to this site I’m still overwhelmed by the beauty and perfection of it. When I see it in thumbnail on someone else’s site, I love its quiet minimalism and feel proud that it’s my blog. I still tweak it every now and then, kind of the way I did with my bedroom when I was a kid. I’m a little obsessed with the way my site looks, I know. Just be thankful I don’t have two sidebar columns of bright flashing banners. And still no ads!

Anyway, I am, as always, thankful to my readers, commenters, and linkers. Don’t forget to have the traditional Blogoversary beer! You know, the tradition I just started. But hey, now it just wouldn’t be a Blogoversary without one.

Check out the iPod Song of the Week for my blog’s new theme song. But this one fits the post better and it’s one of those cheerful Cure songs that make you want to kill yourself in a haze of saturated color.
The Cure – Anniversary